1) Once again... free certification exams. This provides you a savings of $150 per take... pass or fail. If you are looking to upgrade to V9 certifications, you have 6 exams to choose from: 730, 731, 732, 733, 734, and 736. Even if you took only five exams, that would be a savings of $750! Could this be the justification that you need to go to the conference?

3) Discounted books: I'm putting together a list of books to suggest to the bookseller, Breakpoint books. In creating this list, I'm trying to ensure that you have the latest books with the highest ratings. If there is a book that you'd like to suggest that I add to my list, let me know. I believe the normal 10% discount will apply at the conference.

4) Skills Hub: I will be located at the bookstore for the week, or right next to it, at the Skills Hub. This is a new area for an IDUG conference and is based loosely on what we did at IDUG Athens last November. We encourage people to come and ask questions, browse the books, talk to us about your particular needs, and if possible, pick up a freebie or two.

5) Authors who will be speaking at the conference. I don't know if I have a complete list yet, but here's what I was able to pull together from the Advance Program: